1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to compositions for surfacing wood or other substrates, to methods of surfacing substrates and to the resulting surfaced products.
More particularly, the invention concerns compositions for producing tough, impact-resistant, watertight surface layers on substrates, methods of using such compositions and the products resulting from such methods.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are innumerable compositions designed for surfacing of wood, plastic, metal or other substrates to provide protective surface layers on the substrates. The resulting protective layers may vary in thickness from less than a millimeter to several centimeters and provide a great variety of protective qualities, e.g., protection varying from only corrosion resistant to strong, structural shielding. This present invention concerns surfacing compositions that are in the class that produce surface layers of substantial thickness that become a strong, structural component of the resulting product.
An example of a type of substrate surfacing requiring compositions of the stated class is the refinishing of hulls of wooden boats that have been degraded so that the hulls require more than simply repainting. One known method of doing such refinishing is to apply glass fiber cloth or chopped glass strand mat to the hull surface and then impregnate and coat the cloth or mat with polyester resin. Such "fiberglassing" methods require much skill and attention to create a satisfactory finish and the resulting products may be defective in structural strength or in adherence of the surface layer to the substrate.